1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to refrigerated cabinet structures and, more particularly, to related product display structures adapted for mounting at various convenient selectable positions therein.
2. Background, Problems
Workers in the art of designing and constructing refrigerated cabinets for containing and displaying products for sale -- e.g., as "point-of-sale" display -- are familiar with the challenge of displaying products for maximum eye appeal (e.g., to stimulate impulse buying), yet doing so consistent with simple, versatile carrier means. There is a need for product display arrangements which are very practical and convenient to install, to reposition and to remove -- (for instance, during cleaning of a refrigerated cabinet, as is required by health ordinances). Thus, to optimize the effectiveness and eye-appeal of their product displays, managers of retail food outlets are continually looking for ways of more attractively displaying their products to stimulate purchase, while doing so with arrangements that are flexible and versatile enough to be easily installed and repositioned or removed; i.e., without these operations requiring a great deal of time, labor or skill and without unduly interfering with the flow of customer traffic.
Such a refrigerated cabinet structure is shown in part in FIG. 1 as typical of a prior art installation in a retail food store. Such an installation may comprise a transparent door D offering access by customers to a refrigerated cabinet (not shown) in which one or more shelves, such as mesh shelf Sh, are positioned for "storage-display" of products such as packaged meats, produce, beverages (liquid and frozen), eggs, etc. Such shelves are typically mounted upon standards, such as front and rear standards S, S', respectively; these typically coupled for rigidity by bracing means such as brace BR. Typically, such a front standard S will be bolted, or otherwise connected, to the door frame (e.g., on a vertical mullion), while the rear standard, such as S', will be screw-connected (not shown) to a fixture projecting from the ceiling or from the side wall of the cabinet.
Workers would obviously prefer an alternate to spending time and labor to install standards with screw fixtures and the like. Likewise, they would prefer to avoid installing the accompanying mounting fixtures to the cabinet side walls or ceiling, especially since the holes so formed are apt to compromise the refrigerated integrity of the chilled cabinet and in any event require special drilling tools, fixtures and associated time and labor. Such relatively permanent standards are not particularly convenient to remove, although their removal is often required to properly clean-up the cabinet with disposal of spoiled food products from the cabinet floor, side walls and shelves. This is required relatively frequently by health ordinances, as well as the shopkeeper's general desire to maintain a clean, fresh, attractive display. The present invention is directed towards an improved product display arrangement intended to meet the foregoing problems and provide improved features and advantages as described below.
A further objection to prior art cabinet display arrangements such as those indicated in FIG. 1 is that relatively horizontal shelves do not always present the most attractive display or give optimum sales impact for many food products. Also they are not particularly suitable for small "shallow" display cabinets. For instance, in a small delicatessen or "after-hours" market, most of the cabinet's rear section is often used to store inventory with only the front section used for actual product display.
One disadvantage to horizontal shelving is the limited product-view it gives to the customers. The angle through the transparent refrigerated doors is poor and goods are often hidden by intervening shelving structures or by overlying products which tend to get displaced on the flat shelving, one product covering up the second, as customers manipulate them to make a selection. A partial solution is to adopt a "stepped" shelf such as that shown in FIG. 2 where the products are arranged, "theater fashion", on a series of elevated steps to maintain some semblance of segregation and thus keep each little group of products and their associated labels more clearly in the customer's view. The invention disclosed herein is intended to provide a product display arrangement improving on such approaches.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide structures to meet the aforementioned and related problems and difficulties. A related object is to do so by providing an improved, portable unitary display structure for mounting food product in a refrigerator cabinet and the like. A further object is to do so in a light, simple unit that is easy and convenient to install and to remove or reposition -- versatile enough to fit many different cabinet dimensions and many different positioning plans. Yet another object is to do so with a unit providing for more effective product display, being readily positionable, close to customer access, and at an attitude (e.g., fully-vertical, or tilted) serving to display the product to its best advantage.
Yet another object is to do so using a product-mounting panel board suspended between two or more spring-loaded standards for a frictional spring-biased engagement between upper and lower fixed bases. Yet a further object is to provide such a panel for vertical mounting of product-displaying shelves, clips and the like in various selectable attitudes and locations.